How to buy a child car seat

From that very first journey home from the hospital, a safe car seat that protects your child is an essential piece of kit for every parent. Give yourself peace of mind by reading our GHI guide before you buy.

The right car seat will make getting your child from A to B in the car as easy as ABC. It's an important decision so make sure you know what to look out for, whether you’re buying for a newborn, toddler or older child.

Getting Started

Buying a car seat is a big purchase for parents-to-be. If you give birth in hospital, they may not let you take your baby home by car without a suitable car seat so add it to your shopping list right now. Once your child is older, you'll need to replace your infant carrier with a car seat that's appropriate for its weight and height.

The Options

The big issue when buying a car seat is making sure you get the right size. If the seat is too big your child won’t be safe and if it's too small, they’ll be uncomfortable.

The size your child needs depends on their weight rather than their age. Children’s car seats are currently divided into groups based on weight. It’s a good starting place, but make sure that your little one is comfortable before you settle on a particular model.

Group 0 seats are for babies weighing 0-10kg (0-22lb), roughly from birth to around 11 months for boys or 14 months for girls. Car seats for children this age are known as infant carriers.
Group 0+ seats are for babies weighing 0-13kg (0-29lb), roughly from birth to about 15 months.
Group 1 seats are for children weighing 9-18kg (20-40lb), about nine months to four and a half years.
Group 2 seats are for children weighing 15-25kg (33lb – 3 stone 13lb), about three years to seven years.
Group 3 seats are for children weighing 22-36kg (3 stone 7lb - 5 stone 9lb) and aged about six to 12 years.

You can also buy Group 1, 2 and 3 Combination seats. These are designed for children from 9 – 36kg (20 – 79 lb), about 9 months to 12 years. Alternatively, when your child outgrows their Group 1 seat, you can move on to a high-backed booster seat (for Group 2 or Group 2/3). These come with an integral harness, but if your child outgrows this you can use the car’s seat belt.

Things to consider

Safety

It’s best to keep your children in rear-facing seats for as long as possible as if you’re in a collision, rear-facing seats give them more protection. Don’t use rear-facing child seats on a passenger seat with an active airbag. It's illegal and dangerous. If there's an accident and the airbag is set off, it will be too close to your child’s head and could cause a serious injury or death.

Don’t buy a second-hand car seat. It could have been in an accident, and been damaged.

What the law says

Since May 2008, the law has stated that child seats must be approved to UN ECE R44/03, or 44/04 or any standard passed since then such as the i-Size regulation (see below). All child car seats have to display an ECE R44/04 certification label to show that they comply with standard safety requirements. Check this before you buy.

The law requires all children travelling in the front or rear seat of any car use the correct child car seat until they are either 135 cm in height or 12 years old (whichever they reach first). After this they must use an adult seat belt. It's the driver's responsibility to ensure that children under the age of 14 years are using a seatbelt or in a suitable restraint. Children under three years old must be in a car seat that is securely attached to the car. They can’t travel in a car that doesn’t have seat belts. In very rare circumstances, such as an emergency, a child may travel for a short distance without a car seat. However they must sit in the rear of the car and wear an adult seat belt.

Fitting your car seat

Not all seats fit all cars, even those described as universal. Before you buy, check that the seat is suitable for your make and model of car - don’t leave it to chance. If you’re buying from a specialist shop, ask for help fitting the seat into your car. Make sure it sits flush with the car seat and doesn't rock around.

If possible, fit your child car seat in the rear of the car, and never fit a rear-facing seat in front of an active airbag.

What’s new?

i-Size

i-Size is the name of the European standard for child car seats (ECE R129). It was introduced in July 2013, and was designed to make child car seats easier to fit into cars, and to keep children in rear-facing car seats for longer which is regarded as a safer way for babies and children to travel. i-Size seats are based on a child’s height rather than their weight.

i-Size seats also have side impact tests to make sure that the seats give the child better protection against side-on collisions. i-Size seats will fit i-Size approved vehicles, with Isofix seat attachments (see below).

Isofix

Isofix is a standard system of attachment points for child seats in cars. ​They cover group 0/0+ and Group 1. Seats with Isofix attachment points slot into the matching points in the car. There are usually three of these: one at the top of the seat (mandatory in new vehicles since 2013), and one on each side of the seat at the base.

Not all cars have Isofix attachment points, particularly if you have an older model, so check your car’s handbook carefully before you buy an Isofix car seat.